Utility boom gin



Dec. 26, 1967 L. A. JAMISON ETAI- ,3

i UTILITY BOOM GIN Filed Aug. 23, 1965 INVENTORS LEE A. JAMISON ROBERT H. KAPANKA JARVIS D. WEBSTER I AYMOND J. AS RAN 1M E ATTQRNEYS United States Patent UTILITY BOOM GIN Lee A. Jamison, Port Huron, Robert H. Kapanka, St.

Clair, and Jarvis D. Webster and Raymond J. Masserant, Port Huron, Mich., assignors to The Detroit Edison Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 481,490 Claims. (Cl. 214-130) The present invention relates to a utility boom gin, and more particularly to a device for facilitating the attachment of a boom extension to a boom.

Truck mounted booms are widely used for a variety of purposes by different users, a good example being booms of this type employed by electric utility companies. In many cases it is necessary to provide an extension for the boom in order to increase its range, and at the present time relatively light boom extensions are available made for example of fiber glass. While such boom extensions are relatively light, considering their dimensions, it is nevertheless difiicult to install them and has required the services of three men. By employing the apparatus disclosed herein the boom extension can be installed and removed by two men. With the old method and without the advantages obtained by using the present attachment, installation has required three men and ten minutes, and removing the extension has required three men and eight minutes, a total of 54 man-minutes. By employing the apparatus disclosed herein, installation of the boom extension requires two men for five minutes, and removal of the extension requires two men for five minutes, a total of 20 man-minutes.

The difference between the 54 man-minutes required to install and remove the extension without the use of the present apparatus, and the 20 man-minutes required for installation and removal of the boom extension using the apparatus disclosed herein, does not by any means represent the entire advantages resulting from use of the present apparatus. In the first place, installation and removal of the extension is a much easier task using the novel apparatus, and the possibility of injury to workmen is materially reduced. More important however, is the fact that for efiicient installation and removal without the novel apparatus disclosed herein requires the presence of three men whereas, only two men can efficiently perform the same job in less time by using the improved apparatus. Thus, the presence of the third man is not required and in some cases, this may constitute the difference between requiring a three-man crew and a two man crew.

With the foregoing general statements in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a utility boom gin which is adapted to be attached to the powered tiltable pole grabber commonly provided at the end of the usual boom, the gin having suspension means for suspending the boom extension at substantially its center of gravity.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gin adapted to be quickly attached and detached from the tiltable plate of a pole grabber at the end of a boom, the gin having means for suspending the boom extension at substantially its center of gravity, the boom being tiltable with the aforesaid plate to adjust the boom extension into suitable registration with the boom for attachment thereto.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a boom having spaced means at one end thereof for attaching a boom extension thereto, said boom having a tiltable support adjacent its end, a gin attached to said support, and suspension means on the gin for suspending a boom extension substantially at its mid-point, tilting of said support being particularly effective to permit .registration of means on the boom extension with one of said spaced means on the boom after the boom extension has been attached to the other of said space means.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide means for facilitating attachment and detachment of a boom extension to a boom which comprises a tiltable support adjacent the end of the boom, an elongated gin, means on said support and at one end of said gin for effecting quick attachment and detachment of said gin to said support for tilting movement therewith.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide structure as described in the preceding paragraph in which the means for attaching the gin to the support comprises registering pin-receiving recesses on said support and at one end of said gin, and a rigid strut on said gin engageable with a portion of said support to limit swinging movement thereof in one direction.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide structure as described in the second paragraph above in which the means for attaching the gin to the support comprises a bracket on said support including a post and a socket member at one end of said gin adapted to receive said post.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the construction including the end of a boom, the boom extension, and the gin.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the gin showing its attachment to a mounting bracket.

FIGURE 3 is a view of the gin shown in FIGURE 2 as seen from the right.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational View similar to FIG- URE 1, of a dilferent embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to FIGURES l-3 there is shown the outer end portion of a boom 10 having a head 12 fixed thereto provided with openings for the reception of pins, bolts, or other suitable connecting elements 14 and 16. The boom extension is indicated at 18 and is provided at its inner end with elongated arms 20 having openings adapted to register with the openings in the head which receive the connector elements 14 and arms 22 provided With openings adapted to register with the openings in the head which receive the connector elements 16 While the boom extensions are ordinarily made as light as possible in view of the stresses to which they are subjected, it is nevertheless difficult to move the boom extension into exact registration so that the connector elements 14 and 16 can be inserted.

Booms are available which at their outer ends are provided with tiltable supports 24 which include upwardly and laterally projecting arms movable towards andaway from each other by suitable means such for example as a piston and cylinder device 26 located on the plate or support 24. These laterally projecting arms may be moved toward and away from each other for the purpose of gripping poles during erection of the poles, and the construction is referred to in the industry as pole grabbers. Details of the arms form no part of the present invention and the arms are not illustrated, the piston and cylinder device 26 being seen in end elevation in FIGURES 1 and 4 and is illustrated only for the purpose of indicating that its presence on the pole grabber does not interfere with the attachment forming part of the present invention. So far as the present invention is concerned, the boom may be considered as simply incorporating the tiltable platform 24. As seen in FIGURE 1, the plate 24 is pivoted to the head 12 at 28 and tilting of the plate is accomplished by'a piston and cylinder device 30 pivoted as indicated at 32 to the head and at 34 to the support 24.

In order to facilitate attaching and detaching the boom extension 18 to the boom 10, an elongated gin 36 is provided which is connected to the tiltable support 24. As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the gin comprises an elongated member 38 which may conveniently be of U square cross-section having at its outer end a hook 40 for suspending the boom extension by suitable means as for example a rope sling 41. As seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the inner end of the gin is connected to a rectangular socket portion 42 having an opening 44 therein by gussets 46. A bracket 48 including a post 50 adapted to fit within said socket is secured to the outer face of the plate or support 24. I

With this arrangement the gin may be quickly attached to or detached from the tiltable support 24. The boom extension is suspended intermediate its ends at substantion permitting insertion of the remaining connector element.

Referring now to FIGURE 4 there is shown a similar arrangement in which the tiltable support or plate 24 is provided with apertured ears 52 adapted to receive the inner end of a gin indicated generally at 54. The gin includes the elongated member 56 having an opening at its inner end adapted to be coupled to the cars 52 by an elongated coupler element indicated at 53. Fixedly mounted to the elongated member 56 is a rigid strut 60 adapted to abut the outer face of the support or plate 24 to limit tilting of the gin in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIGURE 4. v

The outer end of the elongated member 56 is provided with a hook 62 for suspending the boom extension 18 from a sling 41.

As in the embodiment previously described, the tiltable plate 24 may be tilted about the axis of a pivot means 28 by the piston and cylinder device 30 so as to effect registration of openings provided in the head 12 at the end of the boom 10 and the arms and 22, at which time the connector elements or pins 14 and 16 may be inserted as previously described.

The drawing and the foregoing specification constitute a description of the improved utility boom gin in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. Apparatus for use in rigging an extension to a boom provided at its end with a platform tiltable relative to said boom about a horizontal axis, the boom and extension having a plurality of laterally spaced sets of horigontal alignable pin-receiving openings, said apparatus comprising an elongated gin having at one end means for removably affixing it to said platform for tilting movement therewith relative to said boom, and means at its opposite end for suspending the boom extension substantially at its midpoint.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said one end of said gin has an aperturcd extension movable into registration with an apertured member on said platform for coupling thereto by the insertion of a pin through the aperture thereof.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which said one end of said gin has a rigid abutment engageable with the forward surface of said platform.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which said platform has an actuating cylinder on its forward face and an apertured bracket extending forwardly from its forward face above the cylinder, said gin having an aperturcd extension at said one end movable into alignment with said apertured bracket to be pivotally coupled thereto by the insertion of a pin, said one end of said gin having a rigid leg adjacent said extension engageable with the forward face of the platform below the cylinder thereon to support said gin for tilting movement with the platform and to space said gin from the actuating cylinder on the pole grabber.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the platform has a rigid post fixed thereto, said gin having a socketed member rigidly fixed thereto adapted to be fitted over said post to support said gin rigidly thereto for movement thereby.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5, said socket member comprising an open-ended box-like member.

7. In combination, a boom having at its free outer end a pair of spaced parallel openings, a pivotal support, and power means for tilting the support relative to the boom, an elongated gin, means at one end of said gin and on said support for removably fixing said one end of said gin to said support, means at the other end of said gin for suspending an elongated boom extension from adjacent its mid-point.

8. The combination as defined in claim 7 in which the means for fixing said gin to said support comprises an a'pertured bracket on said support, apertured means at said one end of said gin movable in alignment with said bracket for the reception of a coupler in the apertures therein, and rigid abutment means acting between said gin and support to support said gin against pivoting movement about a coupler connecting said gin and support.

9. The combination as defined in claim 7 in which the means for fixing said gin to said support comprises a post on said support and a socket on said gin shaped to receive said post.

10. The combination as defined in claim 7 in which the means for fixing said gin to said support comprises a post and socket connection.

HUGO Q. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner, 

1. APPARATUS FOR USE IN RIGGING AN EXTENSION TO A BOOM PROVIDED AT ITS END WITH A PLATFORM TILITABLE RELATIVE TO SAID BOOM ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, THE BOOM AND EXTENSION HAVING A PLURALITY OF LATERALLY SPACED SETS OF HORIZONTAL ALIGNABLE PIN-RECEIVING OPENINGS, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING AN ELONGATED GIN HAVING AT ONE END MEANS FOR REMOVABLY AFFIXING IT TO SAID PLATFORM FOR TILTING MOVEMENT THEREWITH RELATIVE TO SAID BOOM, AND MEANS AT ITS OPPOSITE END OF SUSPENDING THE BOOM EXTENSION SUBSTANTIALLY AT ITS MIDPOINT. 